Patricia Collinge Movies
- 1964
Wealthy Adelaide Snow (Patricia Collinge) confronts her nephew Bruce (Don Chastain), who has been passing bad checks to pay his gambling debts. Rather than allow Adelaide to notify the authorities, Bruce locks the old woman in her own money vault and leaves her there to suffocate. Bruce has taken the precaution of locking one of Adelaide's pet cats in the vault as well, reasoning that the police will conclude that she entered the vault to retrieve her cat and was trapped by accident. What our "hero" hadn't figured on was that his own wife, Lorna (Jessica Walter), does not possess his sociopathic streak. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Patricia Collinge, Jessica Walter, (more)
- 1962
Two-bit evangelist Robert Evans (Peter Falk) attaches himself to a wealthy elderly woman named Naomi Freshwater (Patricia Collinge). Evans hopes to inherit Naomi's mansion and convert into a temple -- and to expedite this, he sends her into the next world a bit ahead of schedule. Unfortunately for Evans, he may not be able to enjoy his ill-gotten gains for long: Naomi's niece Laura (Dina Merrill) has arrived in town with plans of her own. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peter Falk, Dina Merrill, (more)
- 1961
New in town, bank clerk Billy Weaver (Dean Stockwell) rents a room from a slightly daffy old woman (Patricia Collinge). After a few days, Billy begins to wonder why he never sees any of the lady's other tenants. While he doesn't get any answers right away, he does find out that his landlady is rather fond of stuffed domestic animals -- and exotic beverages. This merrily macabre episode was given the full "Hitchcock" treatment by both its original author Roald Dahl and its adaptor Robert Bloch. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1960
Hubert Wintor (George Grizzard) can't persuade his widowed mother, Sofie (Patricia Collinge), to lend him any money. However, Hubert is more successful talking Sofie into attending a séance staged by a suspicious-looking medium named Irma (Barbara Baxley). In the course of the séance, a voice from beyond suggests that it is high time that Sofie "cross over" to the other world so that she can be reunited with her husband. Sofie agrees that she'd be better off dead: problem is, she has no intention of leaving this world for the next without a traveling companion.... ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Audrey Hepburn stars in The Nun's Story as Sister Luke, postulant of a Belgian order of nuns. Though frequently disillusioned in her efforts to spread good will -- at one point she is nearly killed by a mental patient (Colleen Dewhurst) -- Sister Luke perseveres. Sent as a nurse to the Belgian Congo, an assignment she'd been hoping for, Sister Luke is disappointed to learn that she will not be ministering to the natives but to European patients. Through the example of no-nonsense chief surgeon Peter Finch, the nun sheds her idealism and becomes a diligent worker -- so much so that she contracts tuberculosis. Upon the outbreak of World War II, Sister Luke tries to honor the edicts of her order and not take sides, but this becomes impossible when her father (Dean Jagger) is killed by the Nazis. Realizing that she cannot remain true to her vows, Sister Luke leaves the order and returns to "civilian" life. The Nun's Story ends with a long, silent sequence in which Sister Luke divests herself of her religious robes, dons street garb, and walks out to an uncertain future. There is no background music: director Fred Zinnemann decided that "triumphant" music would indicate that Sister Luke's decision was the right one, while "tragic" music would suggest that she is doing wrong. Rather than make an editorial comment, the director decided against music, allowing the audience members to fill in the blanks themselves. The Nun's Story is based on the book by Kathryn Hulme, whose depiction of convent life was a lot harsher and more judgmental than anything seen in the film. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Audrey Hepburn, Peter Finch, (more)
- 1956
Publisher Alexander Vinton (John Williams) is curious about a novel that has been submitted to him, in which a woman murders her husband. Somehow, the descriptive passages in the novel suggest that it is not a work of fiction at all, but instead something of a biography. Thus, Vinton pays a visit to the location in which the novel is set -- and has a fateful encounter with the sister (Evelyn Varden) of first-time author Julia Pickering (Patricia Collinge). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1955
Recently discharged museum curator Lyle Endicott (Darren McGavin) uses a forged letter to gain entry to the home of elderly recluse Martha Cheney (played by Patricia Collinge, who had been prominently featured in Alfred Hitchcock's 1943 movie classic Shadow of a Doubt). A lonely invalid, Martha is kept alive only by her obsession with preventing her prized possession, a priceless vase, from falling into the hands of strangers. Conversely, Lyle wants nothing more out of life than to wrest the vase away from Martha and sell it to a museum for a hefty price. Needless to say, one of these two characters is in for a big disappointment by episode's end. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1952
Washington Story stars Van Johnson as mildly liberal congressman Joseph T. Gresham. For reasons that he can't fathom, Gresham has been targeted for abuse by powerful columnist Gilbert Nunnaly (Philip Ober). Working in cahoots with Nunnaly is journalist Alice Kingsley (Patricia Neal), who pretends to be working on a favorable magazine article about Gresham, but who is actually digging up dirt for Nunnaly's benefit. Ultimately, Alice falls in love with the honest Gresham, standing by him during a moment of profound political crisis. The major selling card of Washington Story was producer Dore Schary's decision to lens the film on location in Washington, offering viewers glimpses of the real-life Congress and Senate in action. Remarkably, the film offers a slightly left-of-center hero at a time when McCarthyism was at its height. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Van Johnson, Patricia Neal, (more)
- 1951
In Teresa, director Fred Zinnemann adopts the same quasi-documentary approach he'd used in The Search (1948). Lensed on location in Italy and New York, the film introduces Pier Angeli in the title role, and co-stars three male newcomers: John Ericson, Ralph Meeker and Rod Steiger. Teresa is the Italian bride of GI Philip (Ericson), who is established from the outset as mentally disturbed. Taking Teresa home with him to New York, Philip begins to crack under the pressure of married life -- not to mention the angst brought to bear by his highly dysfunctional family. A happy ending doesn't seem likely under these circumstances, but there's always hope. The best scene in Teresa occurs during an fateful visit to Coney Island. Featured in the cast is political cartoonist Bill Mauldin, who'd subsequently co-star in John Huston's Red Badge of Courage. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anna Maria Pier Angeli, John Ericson, (more)
- 1944
When he finds out his ex-wife has just had his child and plans to give her up for adoption, a timid English instructor dashes to the child's rescue and attempts to care for her in a hotel room. Before too long, however, his new fiancee and his ex confront him and he must decide what he will do. This light comedy starring Gary Cooper, Theresa Wright and Anita Louise garnered Oscar nominations for Sound and Art Direction and was previously filmed under the title Little Accident in 1930 and 1939. ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gary Cooper, Teresa Wright, (more)
- 1943
A bit treacly at times, Tender Comrade is nonetheless a fascinating distillation of the American mindset during WW2. Ginger Rogers is at her noblest and most self-sacrificial as Jo, whose husband Chris (Robert Ryan) is off fighting the war. Though pregnant, Jo finds a job at Douglas Aircraft, saving her money by living in a group home with several of her female co-workers. Delivering lines like "Share and share alike, that's democracy", Jo and her friends pool their salaries and divvy up responsibilities, as wait for news from the Front about their husbands and sweethearts. When news arrives that Chris has been killed, Jo delivers an impassioned cheer-up speech to her infant son, which will either leave the viewer in tears or in giggles, depending upon one's frame of mind. The "collectivism" implicit in Tender Comrade (not to mention its politically chancy title!) would later cause a lot of trouble for screenwriter Dalton Trumbo and director Edward Dmytrk during the HUAC "Communist witchhunt" era. In 1943, however, audiences didn't worry about such things, and the film posted a huge profit for RKO Radio. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ginger Rogers, Robert Ryan, (more)
Teresa Wright plays Charlie, a small-town high-schooler who enjoys a symbiotic relationship with her favorite uncle, also named Charlie (Joseph Cotten). When young Charlie "wills" that old Charlie pay a visit to her family, her wish comes true. Uncle Charlie is his usual charming self, but he seems a bit secretive and reserved at times. Too, his manner of speaking is curiously unsettling, especially when he brings up the subject of rich widows, whom he characterizes as "swine." When a pair of detectives (MacDonald Carey and Wallace Ford), posing as magazine writers, arrive in town and begin asking questions about Uncle Charlie, young Charlie's curiosity is aroused. Why, for example, has Uncle Charlie torn an article out of the evening newspaper? Rushing to the library, Young Charlie locates the missing item: the headline screams WHO IS THE MERRY WIDOW MURDERER? As the horrified Charlie reads on, the conclusion is inescapable: her beloved Uncle Charlie is a mass murderer, preying upon wealthy old women. And what happens next? Thornton Wilder, Sally Benson, and Alma Reville (Mrs. Hitchcock) based their screenplay on a story by Gordon McDowell, who in turn was inspired by real-life "Merry Widow Murderer" Earle Leonard Nelson. The casting, from stars to bit players, is impeccable; the best of the batch is Hume Cronyn, making his film debut as a wimpy murder-mystery aficionado. Lensed on location in Santa Rosa, California, The Shadow of a Doubt wasAlfred Hitchcock's favorite film. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Joseph Cotten, Teresa Wright, (more)
Playwright Lillian Hellman first wrote of the horrible Hubbard family in her 1939 play The Little Foxes. In this lavish 1941 film version, Bette Davis takes over for Broadway's Tallulah Bankhead in the role of conniving turn-of-the-century Southern aristocrat Regina Hubbard Giddens. Regina's equally odious brothers (Charles Dingle and Carl Benton Reid) want her to lend them 75,000 dollars to help build a cotton mill. To do this, she must make peace with her long-estranged husband, Horace (Herbert Marshall) -- and failing that, she tries to arrange a wealthy marriage between her daughter, Alexandra (Teresa Wright), and her slimy nephew Leo (Dan Duryea). Horace refuses to give Regina the money, whereupon Leo is pressured by his father (Reid) to steal bonds from the family business. Regina uses this information as a means of blackmailing her brothers for a share in the new mill. In retaliation, Horace claims that he gave Leo the bonds as a loan, thereby cutting Regina out of the deal. When Horace suffers a heart attack, Regina makes no effort to give him his medicine, and he dies without revealing his willingness to loan the money to Leo. Regina is thus still able to strongarm her brothers into giving her a piece of the mill -- but the price for her evil machinations is the loss of her daughter's love and respect. The Little Foxes caused a censorship stir in 1941; by refusing to give Horace his medicine, Regina technically gets away with murder. However, the censors decided that Regina was punished enough when her daughter left her to marry an honest newspaperman (Richard Carlson). Given the usual Tiffany treatment by producer Sam Goldwyn, The Little Foxes was a success; several years later, Lillian Hellman wrote a "prequel" to The Little Foxes, titled Another Part of the Forest. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bette Davis, Herbert Marshall, (more)
